Learning to teach mathematics through inquiry: a focus on the relationship between describing and enacting inquiry-oriented teaching

Towers, Jo

doi:10.1007/s10857-009-9137-9

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…A key component of this realignment would be a policy that allows for increased professional development time for teachers. As our data presented here indicate, and as we have noted elsewhere in our investigations of inquiry-based teaching and learning from the perspective of teachers and students (Towers, 2008(Towers, , 2010, teachers cannot simply be told to enact inquiry-oriented teaching, nor even told how to enact it, they must both experience it themselves and have opportunities to engage in deep and sustained professional conversations about its nuances. Such back-and-forth interaction between theory and practice, the general and the particular, is fundamental to a phronetic understanding of schooling.…”

Section: Implications For School Board Administrative Policiessupporting

confidence: 73%

“…Learning to practice inquiry is a long-term, fully embodied process involving a shift in the learner's identity as well as their practice (Phelan, 2005); in other words, learners cannot simply be told what inquiry is and be expected to enact it (Towers, 2010). Sandra felt that her own and her staff's learning about inquiry (and therefore their capacity to practice it) was further compromised by the limited amount of time that they had available to them for professional development activities.…”

Section: Detractors From the Inquiry Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With respect to teacher distribution policies, we strongly urge school board administrators to understand the tentative steps that must be made on the journey to strong inquiry-based teaching, and to recognize how easily these can be disrupted by changes in staffing year after year. Although, as Sandra noted, teachers drawn to this kind of work may be "changejunky-ish" by nature, many new teachers are committed to this kind of work but find it difficult to have their practices take hold, especially in situations where they meet resistance to their ideas (Towers, 2010) and especially when they have to move from school to school in search of a permanent contract. Similarly, efforts to sustain inquiry in schools can be hampered by school board policies that foster high staff turnover, resulting in school leaders feeling as though they are starting fresh every year in building a collective curriculum vision.…”

Section: Implications For School Board Administrative Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leading Inquiry-based Learning

Towers

Panayotidis

2012

Journal of Teaching and Learning

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This article focuses on the role of the school principal in curriculum leadership for inquiry-based learning. Drawing on data collected in a study of inquiry-based teaching and learning in an elementary school in a large Canadian city, and in particular on interviews with the school principal, we explore the important role of the principal in leading and sustaining inquiry in schools. We organize our presentation around three significant themes that emerged from our analysis: (1) the role of the principal's prior experience of inquiry-based teaching and learning practices, (2) explicating the nature of the work of the principal in leading inquiry-based teaching and the dilemmas of that work, and (3) the (principally systemic) elements of the educational working environment that detract from efforts to enact and sustain inquiry in schools.

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Section: Implications For School Board Administrative Policiessupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Detractors From the Inquiry Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For School Board Administrative Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leading Inquiry-based Learning

Towers

Panayotidis

2012

Journal of Teaching and Learning

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“…Such regulation of teacher education is also established in Portugal, setting us the question of the nature of the master's degree final report. There are different ways of framing this work, as the studies of Peter-Koop (2001), Stehlíková and Jirotková (2003) and Towers (2010) show. Each one corresponds to a different response to the "learning problem"…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on teaching practice in a Portuguese initial secondary mathematics teacher education program

Ponte

Santos

Oliveira

et al. 2017

ZDM Mathematics Education

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Abstract. In teacher education, a key issue is how prospective teachers learn. At the University of Lisbon, based on an inquiry-based approach to mathematics learning, we developed a secondary school mathematics teacher education program, in which a central feature is the elaboration of a final investigative report based on teaching practice. In this paper, our aim is to understand the professional learning opportunities and difficulties recognized by prospective teachers (PT) in their final reports, by addressing the following research questions: (i) What didactical choices do PT mention regarding the approach to teaching, the use of tasks, resources and assessment strategies in their teaching practices? (ii) What transversal elements of teaching practices do they recognize as enabling their professional development? and (iii) What elements of the investigative work do PT refer to as major professional learning outcomes? Using content analysis, we reviewed, coded, and analyzed all 38 reports produced so far in the program. The results suggest that the PT embraced an inquiry-based approach to learning, valuing the role of suitable tasks and of whole class discussions. They also valued reflection and collaboration as practices that support professional development. Prospective teachers also indicated some difficulties and challenges in doing this investigation based on their teaching practice, but even so they tended to regard it a learning opportunity. We conclude that the final report, by its content, structure, and working processes as framed in this teaching education program, supports participants' development as teachers who hold research in positive regard.

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“…In a synthesis of the literature, Towers (2010) concluded that beginning teacher's knowledge of teaching and what they actually do were not necessarily aligned -they can "talk-the-talk" but not "walk the walk." In response to this disjunction between teacher knowledge and action, Towers found evidence that teacher candidates can learn to walkthe-walk within collaborative and action-based teacher education environments.…”

Section: Action Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%